Page 27 of Girl, Empty
‘No.He’s a regular file, and me and my partner over there are going to close it.’
‘Is he… dead?’
This time, Ella did touch Emma’s shoulder.‘I’m afraid so.’
Tears threatened to wet Emma’s cheeks, but she somehow held herself together.She covered her eyes with her palm and then scrubbed viciously, as if the threat alone could keep the tears at bay.Her legs began to tremble, and Ella knew the poor kid would remember this moment forever.
‘Listen, I lost my dad when I was a kid too,’ Ella said.
‘You did?’
‘Yeah, and it doesn’t mean they’re gone.’Ella tapped Emma’s temple.‘He just lives up here now.In your memories, and I’m sure you’ve got some great ones.’
Emma began anxiously fidgeting with her hair tie again, then caressed her forearm, as though the answers to how to deal with this mess were written on her sleeve.She gently pulled it up and exposed flesh that was surprisingly tanned for a child in Indianapolis in January.‘This is the last thing he gave me,’ she said.
Ella leaned closer, and there on the olive skin was what looked like smudged ink.Pool water had done its work on whatever design had been there, and left only faint black lines against the tan.Most of it had washed away, but the pattern that remained was unmistakable.
Five points.A star within a circle.
The same shape that had replaced Michael Rankin's financial data twelve hours after his death
CHAPTER TEN
Ella leaned against the wall in the motel corridor while Ripley fought with her keycard two doors down.After giving Sarah and Emma the terrible news, the night hadn’t brought any new revelations.All it had brought was below freezing temperatures.Ella had come straight to the motel after leaving the swimming center, and Ripley had been on the phone to her son the whole journey.
‘I hate these things.They never work,’ Ripley complained.
‘Because you suck with technology,’ said Ella.‘Which is our biggest problem right now.’
‘Hey, I’m getting a lot better.By the way, Sarah cleared a few things up while you were with her little girl.’
‘Did she?’
‘Yeah.Her marriage to Michael was dead, but they were civil.’Ripley finally got the door open.‘There weren’t any blazing arguments or smashing plates.They just woke up one day and realized they were roommates and not lovers.’
'That explains why Emma seemed so casual about her dad never being around.’
‘The poor kid’s probably been preparing for this conversation for years.’
‘True.What vibes did you get from Sarah?’
‘She’s as innocent as the day is long, if that’s what you mean.As genuine as it gets.Well, as genuine as you can be when you find out your ex has been murdered.’Ripley opened the door so that the stale air escaped, then froze.She seemed to wrestle with three different emotions at once.‘Sorry, Dark.Slip of the tongue.’
It was funny, how sometimes the wrong words just fell out.Everyone had been guilty of it at some point.‘I’m glad someone can forget.Did you mention the pentagram to Sarah?’
‘Yeah, and she said that Emma had a tattoo of one on her arm.I was wondering what kind of kid gets a tattoo.’
‘I saw it.It’s a temporary one.’
‘That’s a relief.Sarah said she got it out of a cereal box and liked it.Her dad put it on for her.’
Ella felt something kick her gut.‘So, no symbolism there.’
‘No deeper meaning than if it had been a unicorn.Sarah said Michael was about as spiritual as a tax return.Never went to church, didn't believe in God, certainly wasn’t a Wiccan type.'
Ella tried to process this.A rational, secular man helps his daughter apply a symbol he doesn't comprehend.Then that same symbol materializes on his computer after someone murders him in a room that physics said was impenetrable.Coincidence felt about as likely as winning the lottery while being struck by lightning.
‘Did she mention a David?’
